work in progress Wednesday…

Last week, I provided some background information on my current WIP. At least twice a month, I hope to post a brief update on my writing & revising process. Now to the nitty gritty details…

Title
Battle Scars: Men of the Cross

Current word count
79,042

Revisions
Most writers trim and tighten their stories when they dive into revisions. I started revising by adding 2 new chapters to open the novel. I’m not satisfied with ch. 2 but the bones are there. I’m going to push ahead. Ch. 2 will still be there after I complete a first pass of the entire manuscript.

Book Blurb
My 2 beta readers, 2 co-workers, and 2 of 3 members of my writers group (CPs) offered feedback that was overwhelmingly positive. YAY! Still, there will be tweaking ahead…

My CPs & I also talked about genre. Mark likens Battle Scars to an Errol Flynn adventure – not quite swashbuckling, though there are pirates (briefly) in the novel. 🙂 It’s got action, intrigue, humor, romance, all set against a historical back drop.

Of Cover Art & Maps
No historical fiction would be complete without maps, right? I’ve been speaking to an artist friend about 2 maps – one of the Holy Land; the other of the King Richard’s and the knights’ route home. I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. I also want to talk about cover concepts with her. I’ve done a mock up… but for the moment, it’s for my eyes only.

And now on to Book 2, because a sequel insists on being written.

Title
Battle Scars II: For King and Country

Current word count
Approx. 16,000

Writing
I started working on the sequel when I finished the 1st draft of Book I. Most writers recommend a downtime before jumping into revisions. So while that went on the back burner, I began Book II. I’d written 7,200+ words prior to March 8 when I was forced off the computer due to some nasty neck problems. I resorted to the old pen & paper method on March 22. I was a bit wary about creating on paper again. But as of Monday, I have 73 handwritten pages to add to the 7,200 words. And hallelujah, the plot is thickening. Now that I’m plunging heavily into revisions of Book I, I don’t expect to see my progress continue at that pace.

All right. Time to get back to revisions!

  1. Jadey Avatar
    Jadey

    Looks like it’s all coming together nicely, Char 🙂 Thanks for the update.

    1. Char Avatar

      Thanks for your support! Have a great weekend.


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